Lenore: 'Pink Bellies' Trade

In a storyline that has been building for over a year, Roman Dirge, the so-called ‘Arch-Deacon of the Macabre’ has been slowly ratcheting up the tension and silliness in a story arc that will see one of his most beloved characters pushing up the daisies -- FOR GOOD, we kid you not..!

NO, seriously. This isn't one of those dead for a year kind of deals other publishers do - this is the real deal. DEFO dead! Deader than a door nail kind of dead. The sort of dead that leaves the reader gasping in stunned amazement at the sheer audacity of the thing. Seriously, as god is my witness someone's dying or my name isn't Ferdinand Marco De Boing Boing III. It's going to change the way we see dead people in comic books for all time!

Though I’ve always been aware of Lenore and read the odd collection, it never quite meshed with me. I can find its dark humour amusing from time to time, but it’s part of a culture that I was never around (namely, late 80's/early 90's disaffected goth culture) and so don’t quite ‘get’ its appeal. Perhaps it's because in a world where everything these days has to work on at least 20 different levels to appear worthy of being included in our cultural lexicon, my brain has trouble digesting a story which is just about a dead girl dicking about with her mates. However, in the interests of fairness, Lenore seems to have better structure and storytelling chops than prior work I’ve read of Dirge's.

Concerning the story of a mischievous dead girl who has adventures with her friends that usually result in the deaths of someone, Lenore takes its time, first telling us a story of an ancient god of death, that later ties into the main storyline which kicks it all off. A bunch of cynical MTV types visit Lenore’s house, looking to exploit its history for their own uses in a ‘Most Haunted’ style show. In doing so, they end up dead but also prove the existence of ghosts to the entire watching world. From them on on, things only get worse.

Admittedly, this is done is a pretty whimsical way, even if some readers may find the fates of some of the MTV crew pretty gruesome. But the story seems to be more interested in Lenore and her buddies mucking about and poking each other in the arse with pitchforks than building up inevitable doom. As I said, dark humour, even if it takes that route via a lot of scatological laughs.

I think in the end Lenore is just something you will have to take a risk on. Even though after a few read through I could sink into the rhythm of it, I have to admit it wasn't aimed at me. That's fine though! Not everything should be. Even if it's not my cup of tea, that Roman Dirge is able to create entire comics himself, from conception, through drawing, inking and then onto publishing is impressive. That singular vision is quite refreshing, compared to the ‘comics by committee’ approach that is the norm at bigger publishers.

If you think this won't appeal to you, but you have kids, get it for them. They'll enjoy the fun of it all, which is what comics were originally all about.

To those who are already fans, buy it and you won’t be disappointed. To those who are sitting on the fence? This comic digitally will cost you less than a meal if you went out on your own for the day. Buy it, try it and if you like it, buy more. If not, you have been exposed to a different experience that will enrich how you view comics as a whole.

When you think of it like that, it's not really that bad a deal, is it?

Cover image courtesy of Titan Comics.

Lenore: Pink Bellies is available from Titan Comics or your local comics retailer.

Geek-o-Rama received a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. All thoughts, comments and opinions are those of the individual reviewer.